Mission: Defeat Your Rival! (Japanese: 熱闘！ライバルバトルを勝ちぬけ！！Fierce Fighting! Win Out in the Rival Battle!!) is the 104th episode of the Best Wishes series, and the 761st episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on November 29, 2012 and in the United States on March 16, 2013.

Contents

Blurb

The Unova League qualifying round between Ash and Trip continues, with Trip’s Serperior appearing to have victory—and Pikachu—all wrapped up! But Ash is determined not to let his rival knock him out of the competition, and a combination of Iron Tail and Electro Ball turns the tables, allowing our hero to move on to the main event!

And so it begins with Cameron vs. Bianca as the first match of the day. Cameron’s Samurott immediately goes on the offensive against Bianca’s Escavalier, and though Bianca maxes out Escavalier’s defensive power with Iron Defense, a successful double Razor Shell from Samurott still gets through, and Escavalier is out.

Bianca calls up Emboar, which seems like a strange choice—as a Fire type, it’s at a disadvantage against the Water-type Samurott. But Bianca’s strategy is sound—Emboar uses Attract, and Samurott is immediately smitten! With a couple of powerful Fighting-type attacks, Samurott is down for the count. Cameron then calls on his beloved Riolu, who proves to be quite a powerhouse despite its small size. Its speed, dexterity, and expert timing—combined with moves like Copycat and Vacuum Wave—are enough to finish Emboar off, and Cameron claims the first win in the Unova League’s main event!

Plot

The episode starts out with a flashback of Ash and Trip beginning their qualifying round battle of the Vertress Conference with Iris, Axew and Cilan watching in the stands. Ash is using Pikachu, and Trip is using Serperior. Pikachu immediately takes a big hit from Serperior's Dragon Tail and lands on the ground hard. Iris and Cilan then start worrying about Pikachu since he has taken so much damage from just one attack given Serperior's speed and power are both forces to be reckoned with. Ash encourages Pikachu to get up, and he slowly does, but falls right back into the same position after taking a blow from Serperior's Energy Ball. Serperior then launches a barrage of Dragon Tails, and with all the damage Pikachu has taken, he is not able to dodge all of them and gets hit again. Serperior immediately follows up with Wrap, squeezing Pikachu hard with his tail.

Iris and Cilan continue worrying about Pikachu now that he has taken several hits and is probably close to the edge, but Ash is not willing to give in, so he commands a Thunderbolt. However, Serperior is then commanded by Trip to stick his tail into the ground. The ground absorbs the Thunderbolt's electricity and negates all damage, making Ash take on a surprised look. Trip then commands Serperior to squeeze Pikachu with even more force, and Pikachu's head turns blue making him look like he will faint at any second. Ash declares that he can't lose to Trip again, as he remembers his previous battles against him; how Pikachu was unable to defeat Snivy on his first day in Unova, his own Snivylosing to Trip's Frillish at the Battle Club, how Tepig was unable to beat Vanillish despite a type-advantage and, despite evolving, Pignite fell against Serperior at the Junior Cup. Ash knows that if after all this time he still can't win against Trip then his whole Unova journey will have been a waste.

The scene then switches back to Ash and Trip's battle, and Pikachu is still being Wrapped by Serperior. Cilan and Iris try to encourage Pikachu to do something by cheering him on, just as Stephan, Bianca, and Cameron all greet them. They all immediately notice that Ash appears to be losing, and they all cheer Pikachu on. After much struggling, Pikachu eventually passes out. Knowing this is his chance, Trip commands Serperior to smash Pikachu into the ground. However, Pikachu regains consciousness in the process, just as Ash gets the idea that Pikachu can use Iron Tail to cushion his landing. He then commands this, and Pikachu pulls it off, freeing himself from Serperior's grasp. Pikachu then attempts to attack Serperior with the same Iron Tail, but Serperior overpowers him with a Dragon Tail. Feeling confident that he will emerge victorious, presumptuous Trip says "you've battled well, but it's over now" to Ash who responds negatively. Ash quickly comes up with an idea and immediately puts it into action. He commands Pikachu to use a combination of Iron Tail and Electro Ball, and Trip commands Serperior to intercept with Dragon Tail, and as both Pokémon execute their attacks, a huge explosion billows.

As the smoke clears, Pikachu looks extremely weak, but takes a quick look at Serperior and starts jumping for joy. After seeing this response from Ash and Pikachu, Trip's confused look turns into a shocked one when he sees that his Serperior has been defeated. Everyone in the stands begins to go crazy, especially all of Ash's friends since Pikachu defeated such a strong Pokémon against all odds and gained Ash access to the next round. Ash then enters the Pokémon Center and sees Trip. He goes to ask him if he is leaving, and Trip points out that he still has a long way to go to defeat Alder if he doesn't go out and train. He and Ash then agree that they should both give it their all, and they shake on it as Trip leaves.

As day turns to night, Ash, Cilan, Stephan, and Cameron are all relaxing in the sauna room of their hotel and the three latters are all commending the former for battling like a champion against Trip. In the next scene, Pikachu and Ash's Oshawott are both relaxing in a hot tub. Cameron's Riolu comes along and splashes Oshawott and Pikachu with hot water upon entering the tub, making it and the latter start having a splash fight. However, Riolu takes it a bit too far and provokes Pikachu to use Thunderbolt. Riolu quickly gets out of the water, but Oshawott gets hit by the electricity and becomes badly injured. Ash, Cameron and Stephan hear Oshawott's cry and run into the other room to see what happened. When Ash sees the Sea Otter Pokémon unconscious he gets really worried about him and shouts "OSHAWOTT, WHAT HAPPENED!?!"

The next day, the main event of the Vertress Conference begins, and the two sides (Bianca and Cameron) get ready to start their battle. Ash, Iris, Cilan, Stephan, and Virgil are all watching in the stands and are conflicted since they are watching a battle between two of their friends and don't know who to cheer for. Cameron doesn't know which of his Pokémon to start with, so he smacks himself with his headband to give himself an idea. After, he sends out his Samurott. In response to this, Bianca chooses Escavalier.

Samurott starts off with a Hydro Cannon, but Escavalier dodges and uses Iron Defense. Samurott tries for another Hydro Cannon, but Escavalier does the same thing: dodging and using Iron Defense. Samurott then uses a Razor Shell, but Escavalier yet again dodges and uses Iron Defense. Everyone watching in the stands becomes confused at this since Bianca can't win with defense alone. However, Bianca does finally take offense and have Escavalier use Fury Attack. However, Samurott demonstrates her defensive skills and counters with Razor Shell, finally striking Escavalier on the head. However, it appears to have taken minor damage given its maxed-out defense. Cameron begins worrying that Escavalier's defense will be too tough to handle, so he again smacks himself with his headband for an idea. He then comes up with one, and has Samurott use a double Razor Shell. Escavalier dodges the first one but takes a direct hit from the second one and begins shivering.

After a short while, despite having maxed out its defense, Escavalier faints. Cameron praises Samurott for breaking through a tough barrier as Bianca recalls Escavalier and immediately sends out her Emboar. Iris becomes surprised at this since Fire-types like Emboar are weak to Water-types like Samurott.

Cameron has Samurott use a combination of Aqua Jet and Hydro Cannon, which both land and cause Emboar massive damage. Ash then looks disappointed since he wanted to see Cameron's Riolu in action, but most likely won't since Samurott is very close to defeating Emboar at this point. However, Emboar is commanded by Bianca to use Attract, and Samurott becomes infatuated right on cue. Knowing this is her chance, Bianca has Emboar go in for a combination of Arm Thrust and Hammer Arm, which both land, knocking Samurott out despite her type advantage.

Everyone in the stands becomes impressed that Emboar was able to beat a Water-type, and Bianca praises him for the same reason. Cameron recalls Samurott and picks Riolu as his second Pokémon. Ash is no longer disappointed now that he gets to see Riolu battle, and Bianca initially has a hard time working up the nerve to battle a Pokémon as adorable as Riolu. However, she pulls herself together and gets ready to finish it.

Bianca commands an Arm Thrust, but Cameron commands Riolu to dodge. Emboar then goes in for a Hammer Arm, but Riolu shuts Emboar's attack off with Circle Throw, and everyone watching the battle becomes impressed at Riolu's battling skills. Emboar gets up, but is immediately hit by two of Riolu's Force Palms in a row, landing on his stomach. However, this gave him an opening to grab Riolu's leg and chuck it across the battlefield. After recovering, Riolu dodges Emboar's Flamethrower and uses Copycat. After completing this, Riolu fired Emboar's Flamethrower right back at him. As Emboar is beginning to look like he's on the brink of defeat, Cameron commands Riolu to use Vacuum Wave, which lands and creates a violent explosion. As the smoke clears, Emboar is revealed to have fainted, making Cameron the winner of this battle.

Bianca recalls her Emboar and starts to cry because of her loss as Cameron and Riolu are jumping for joy because of their victory. Everyone in the stands commends the two for a great battle as Ash informs Pikachu that they will both beat Cameron when it comes time for them to battle. The episode ends here.